The Stories We Tell: Societal Narratives and Support for the Far Right

Malte Baader (), Kai Barron (), Anna Hochleitner () and Jonas P. Kaiser ()
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Malte Baader: Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Postal: NHH, Department of Economics, Helleveien 30, N-5045 Bergen, Norway, https://www.maltebaader.com/
Kai Barron: ESCP Business School, Postal: ESCP Business School, WZB Berlin, Reichpietschufer, 50, 10785, Berlin, Germany, https://sites.google.com/site/kaibarron/
Anna Hochleitner: Centre for Applied Research, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Postal: NHH, Centre for Applied Research, Helleveien 30, N-5045 Bergen, Norway, https://www.annahochleitner.com/
Jonas P. Kaiser: The Technical University of Berlin, Postal: The Technical University of Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135 , 10623 Berlin, Germany, https://jonaspkaiser.github.io/

No 14/2026, Discussion Paper Series in Economics from Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics

Abstract: In two studies using AI-assisted qualitative interviews, we ask a representative sample of the German electorate (N = 1, 013) to reflect on the most important societal events of the last 15 years. We document that far-right supporters construct systematically different narratives about the recent past. First, they recall different events—with a strong focus on migration-related issues. Second, even when they do consider the same events, they are more likely to blame the establishment and describe events more negatively and with greater emotional intensity. We further document that these narratives are associated with policy preferences, and that far-right supporters are more inclined than supporters of other parties to prioritize cultural over economic issues. Together, our findings reveal that partisan divides extend to how citizens remember and interpret shared national experiences.

Keywords: Polarization; Narratives; AI-Assisted Qualitative Interviews; Explanations; Mental Models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C90 D01 D84 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 47 pages
Date: 2026-09-18
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